


A Problem

by gvrdensenshi



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, F/F, Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Post-Break Up, Post-Red War, Pre-Forsaken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-13 21:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16480445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gvrdensenshi/pseuds/gvrdensenshi
Summary: Callista and her fireteam are late to a briefing. Ikora sends Cayde to investigate.





	A Problem

**Author's Note:**

> Based almost exactly on an unfortunate (and recent) experience I had. Basically just me coping through my dumbass self-insert.

            Cayde glanced around the conference room. Ikora worked diligently on a holopad while Zavala chatted with the only present fire team.

            His eyes narrowed, the gears dully whirring behind the metal plate of his forehead. _Weird… There were supposed to be two fireteams meeting with us_.

            Callista, Bri, and their weirdly silent warlock companion who still remained nameless after all these years were never late for a brief. In fact, the only time they’d ever been remotely close to being late was the first time they formed the team and Callista had gotten lost in the winding streets of the Last City.

            “Hey, uh, Ikora,” Cayde said, making a coughing noise got get her attention. The warlock barely glanced up from the holopad to indicate she’d heard him. “Did the other fireteam mention they’d be late?”

            Her ever-present frown deepened, and Cayde could practically see the proverbial gears turning in her mind. “Not that I can recall,” she replied slowly. She looked up and turned to Zavala. “Do you know anything about this?”

            The Awoken titan went quiet mid-sentence and thought for a moment. He then shrugged and said, “I haven’t heard anything either. That’s highly unusual for any of them to be this late to anything.”

            “Shit,” Cayde muttered.

            “Track them down, Cayde,” Ikora ground out with a half-glare. “I won’t trust this Nightfall strike to anyone else.”

            He gave a short nod, not wanting to test Ikora’s patience any more than it already was. He may have been a public dumbass, but even he knew when not to press Ikora.

            Leaving their makeshift headquarters, Cayde made his way to one of the refurbished residential areas within the Last City. The buildings stood proud, though scarred with bullet holes and black ash marks from the Red Legion’s occupation.

            Cayde entered one of the brightly colored skyscrapers, heaving a sigh when he remembered the elevator still wasn’t operational and that he’d have to hoof it all the way to the tenth floor.

            “Y’know you could’ve picked a more functional building,” Cayde muttered under his breath as he began the long trek up the stairs. “Like maybe one with a working elevator? Would’ve saved me the unnecessary exercise.”

            Several minutes later and out of breath, Cayde reached the tenth floor. Leaning on his knees he sighed yet again. “Un-fucking-believable, kid. Ugh. Ikora’s gonna owe me big time for this one.” He paused, thinking for a moment. “Aw shit this’s why she made me go looking for them. Smartass warlocks and their superiority complex…”

            He stood upright and took a breath. “Alrighty then… It was one-o-nine, right?” he muttered, walking down the long hallway.

            “God, I hope it’s one-o-nine,” he said when he reached the door.

            He knocked, staring at the metallic number and hoping to Traveler he was right.

            No answer.

            _Shit._

            He knocked again. “Hey, uh, Callista? It’s Cayde. Can you open the door? Ikora’s, uh, a little miffed you guys are late.”

            Still no answer.

            He knocked a third time. “Callista?”

            A tiny, robotic voice spoke up from the other side of the door. “Cayde?”

            “Yeah,” he replied. “Gidget is that you?”

            “Yes,” the ghost said, and even through the door Cayde could hear the sadness in his voice. “The door’s unlocked. We, uh… we have a bit of a problem.”

            Cayde twisted the door knob and the door swung inward. Callista’s ghost, Gidget, hovered in the air at about eye-height. “What happened?”

            Gidget sighed, triangular iridescent shell whirling in a half-shrug. “Callista… well she isn’t doing so well. Remember how she and Bri were partners?”

            “From the ‘were’ I’m guessing that’s changed,” Cayde said, crossing his arms.

            “It’s a mess,” Gidget replied, metallic body shaking as someone would shake their head.

            “It’s ok, Gidge,” Callista said from further in the apartment. “I got it.”

            A moment later out came shuffling Callista, dressed in sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt. She looked like hell, all in all. Tear tracks traced down her face, the whites of her eyes were slightly redder despite their Awoken glow, and her green hair was tousled as if she’d been running her fingers through it multiple times with varying degrees of success.

            “Uh…” Cayde stammered, rubbing the back of his head. “All things considered you look pretty good.”

            Callista didn’t smile at his feeble attempt.

            “Cayde…” Gidget sighed.

            “Sorry, sorry,” he replied, holding his hands up and gesturing as if to stave off the potentially building rage of the hunter and her ghost. “But, if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly happened? Two days ago you seemed fine.”

            Callista frowned. “That’s what I thought too. She… she’d been getting distant. I thought it was the effects of the war—we all saw some shit. But… but she…” Tears welled up in her glowing pale blue eyes. “She decided to… _see_ … someone else without telling me.”

            “Aw shit,” Cayde muttered.

            “Exactly,” Callista and Gidget said in unison.

            “So no more fireteam?” he asked tentatively.

            “I left,” she replied, crossing her arms and raising her chin in a challenge. “It was best.”

             “No shit,” he said with a half grin. “Listen, I’ll fill in the rest of the Vanguard. We won’t count this against you or anything because I’m sure it was the right decision. And, don’t tell anyone this, but I’ll start pulling from the list and I’ll find you a new fireteam.”

            The waterworks started again from Callista. “C-Cayde…”

            “It’s no trouble, Callista,” he said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’re one of my best hunters. I’d hate to see you get pulled from missions because of someone else’s dumb decisions. Just take it easy the rest of the week and we can start vetting the list after.”

            She was fully crying then. She didn’t say anything but he could read the gratitude in her face when she nodded.

            Cayde left the apartment, shutting the door behind him. As he made the long journey back down the stairs he thought about this new development in Callista’s life. She’d seen some shit, even before she’d been chosen. But she’d always kept an easy-going manner about her. He couldn’t think of a single time they’d interacted where she hadn’t made a joke or done some antic that was equally funny. He’d seen her in the hangar or the tower before the war with Bri, making even more jokes with her fireteam and looking at Bri like the sun shone out of her ass. He didn’t even want to imagine the level of pain she must’ve been feeling at this, well, betrayal.

            Trust was the most important element of a fireteam. If you didn’t trust your comrade to have your back then what kind of comrade were they?

            Cayde made a note to tell Ikora to pull Bri and the warlock from the strike. If she wanted to play dirty, then so would Cayde to protect his friend.


End file.
